Fruit

I recently found a website through which you can order fresh products from selected small producers. It works like a kind of market, you have a deadline by which you have to place your orders, the products get prepared and packaged and delivered at your doorstep. Even when you order at several producers, it arrivesRead More

I was in a jam mood, I nearly bought a real copper confiture basin but it would not have worked on my induction stove. Most jams are sweet, but this one is more sweet and sour, and very refreshing. Of course I made a huge mistake. While it is the high season for jams madeRead More

I am lucky to have a good, well-provided and reasonably priced butcher’s. Sometimes, however, I run into something even better when I have the possibility to buy directly from the producer. In France you can go and visit a farm, you can order online or you can find them on producers’ markets and that isRead More

This is one of those French classical recipes that have many variations and of which the roots are not clear. Chef René Lasserre made it famous in his Paris restaurant in 1945, but the dish can have been brought to France by the cooks of Catherine de Medicis , who brought several refinements to theRead More

At lunch parties, certainly in France, there is an expectation that there will be a starter, a main course and dessert, perhaps even with cheese before the dessert. So how do you keep all that light? And how do you make it look interesting and taste surprising?

Guinea fowl is widely available in France and I find slightly more tasty than chicken and also belief their production is less intensive. I could be wrong of course as the one I bought for this recipe came from a leading supermarket poultry brand (Loué). But it is supposed to be less fat than aRead More

The other day we walked around on the Saturday market in Dieppe and there was a stall with great-looking lemons. They were from Menton, which is at the Mediterranean while Dieppe lies at the English Channel. Nevertheless, Menton lemons are known for their quality and for being non-treated (that means they have not been sprayedRead More

On our Sunday market there is a vegetable stall run by four ladies and one man. They are a family, the youngest is in her fifties and the eldest, well, she could be well in her eighties. They come to the market to sell produce of their own grounds in the area, and other assortedRead More

The apricot season is drawing to a close and that is a good reason to try out some recipes before it is too late. At a recent visit to Granville, a great coastal town in Normandy and the Manche department, a restaurant suggested apricot soup with rosemary as dessert. I was intrigued by the combinationRead More

I made several jars of apricot jam last month and was looking for uses. So when I heard a good friend of ours was giving a birthday party dinner, I offered to bring along an apricot pie. Here in France, people like to have a sweet dessert after the cheese course at the end ofRead More

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What’s cooking?

Food is more than fuel for the body. Food is a source of pleasure.

Fresh ingredients and a bit of skill is all you need to cook with the seasons and serve up friendship and love.

Food is culture, food is important. Food can cause or cure ailments. Enjoy what you eat and drink and think about it, where it came from and what it dies to you. Here you will find some ideas and tips about tasty and healthy cooking with locally sourced ingredients in south-west France.